Nyr Dyv (Near-div)
"The Lake of Unknown Depths" is the largest freshwater lake in the Flanaess; shipping lanes provide vital trade routes
The Nyr Dyv, or "Lake of Unknown Depths," is the largest freshwater lake known to the people of the Flanaess. Civilization has turned it into a highway of trade, with vessels using several navigable inlets (Artonsamay, Veng, Velverdyva) and outlets (Nesser and the Selintan). Cities such as Dyvers, Leukish, Greyhawk, and Radigast (the latter situated in a deep river delta off the northeast shores of the lake) owe much of their wealth to lake traffic.
The legendary dangers of the Nyr Dyv, ferocious storms and creatures no less friendly, have not diminished, though humans are now better equipped to handle them. Few ships brave the allegedly bottomless open waters, preferring to hug the coasts. Iuz's occupation of the Shield Lands (notably Admundfort Isle) has lessened traffic in the north, to the advantage of coves and villages along the southern coast. Most ships plying the waters of the Nyr Dyv are equipped with harpoons, pikes, and ballistae, to repel creatures of the deep. Patrol ships from Greyhawk, Dyvers, Furyondy, and the Urnst states prevent organized piracy here, but waterborne banditry is cause for alarm as so many patrol ships were lost in the Greyhawk Wars or reassigned elsewhere.
Despite the dangers, a singular group of humans, the Rhennee, make their homes on this lake, gathering in secluded coves along the Midbay and near the river mouths. The Rhennee keep to themselves for the most part, though outcasts often rent themselves out to lake captains in search of a knowledgeable guide.
Rumors abound that the lake holds the sunken remains of an ancient pre-Migration civilization known as the "Isles of Woe," though many have explored the lake to no avail. Occasionally, strange silver coins and jewelry and even stranger obsidian carvings, found by lucky divers, make their way to market, but these are generally discounted as forgeries.
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